Packed parachute.



G. L. MARTIN. `PACKED PARACHUTE. APPLlcATloN FILED MAH. 1o. 1914.

Patented 1m28, 1915.A

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G. L. MARTIN.

PACKED PARACHUTE. APPLICATION FILED MAR.10, |914.

Llgl. Patented Dec. 28, 1915.

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GLENN L. MARTIN, OF'LOS ANGELES. CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR T0 GLENN L. MARTIN COMPANY,` OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, A CORPORATION OF CALIFORNUL" PACKED PARCHUTE.

Application filed March 10, 1914.

citizen of the United States, residing at Los with devices, adjuncts, and features associ- Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Packed Parachutes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to packed parachutes, and it has for its object to provide efficient and reliable safety-alighting means, operating on the principle of the parachute, whereby aeronauts and aviators may safely descend to earth through the air, together ated with such parachute device and adapted to be carried, worn and stored in compact form, and to be attached to and operated in connection with flying machines, balloons, airships and other apparatus and vessels for navigating and traversing the air.

In using parachutes of the usual construction, and in the usual manner, many objections arise incident to the storage, operative extension for use, manipulation and utilization of the same, whichrender the same under many circumstances wholly unreliable, particularly in emergencies, and also for purposes of unfailing service in exhibition and demonstration.

It is a particular object of the present invention to provide a packed parachute device which may be worn by aviators and Others, and attached to aerial craft, orvsimply attached to the user and to the craft, and which, reduced to a compact form, will, at all times, bc available for use, and which may be put into service by the simple act of subjecting the same or certain features of the same to a strain such as that imparted by the-aviator or other user uponhis voluntary or involuntary act, as when cast from, or casting himself from, an aerial vessel. In accordance with the invention, this act of the user inaugurates a sequence of operations aifecting the packed parachute which unpack or liberate the parts and features of the parachute successively, obvlating any risk of entangling or fouling the various parts and features of the parachute or involving the same in entanglement with or interference bythe user and the aerial vessel with which the device coperates in action. The final liberating action cuts away the otherwise fully freed parachute from the iy,

ing machine or other apparatus or vessel,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 28, i915.

Serial No. 823,664.

and the weight of the user, who is suspended from the parachute, almost immediately, upon slight further descent-"causes the parachute to be finally extended in condition for use and service. The package or container per se is left attached to the iying machine or the like, and can in no way interfere with the liberated and operative parachute. rIhe user thus descends safely.

The invention has for its object to provide a packed parachute device of the general nature stated which will be 1superior in point of relative simplicity and ineXpensiveness of, construction` and organization, taken in connection with positiveness in operation, compactness in form, lightness in weight, uniform reliability and simplicity in action, and which will be generally superior in eiiciency and serviceability.

With the above and other objects and leading features entering into the construction and combination and organization of the same and the parts of thesame, the invention consists in the novel and useful provision, formation, construction, association and relative arrangement of parts, members and features, all as hereinafter described, shown in the drawings, and finally pointed out in claims.

In the drawings: Figure l is a side elevation of a. packed parachute with the parts and features in packed form and connected with a jacket, vest or other garment or device' which is applied to the person of the user; Fig. 2 isa longitudinal vertical sectional view of the same, upon" an enlarged scale, the whole being applied to a structural member of an aeroplane or the like; Fig. 3 is a view in elevatlon of the parachute device and users vest in the relative positions assumed after the second stage of drop or descent of the user; Fig. 4 is a similar view showing the general position and condition of the several parts and features during the third stage of drop or descent of the user; Fig. 5.is a' similar view making a similar showing during the fourth stage of drop or descent of the user; Fig. 6 is a similar view illustrating similarly during the fifth stage of drop or descent of the user; and Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. l, illustrating the substitution of a further parachute device forthe means of connection shown in the other i Corresponding parts in all the ngures are designated by the same reference characters.

Referring with particularity to the drawings, the packed parachute, as a complete device or apparatus, is shown as comprising .three main or essential elements or groups of elements, namely a container or holder A, the parachute device per ce B which is normally housed or packed within theV container, and securing means C whereby the container' and the features normally stored therein may be connected with the body of the user and, if desired, carried by the user asa pack. V

D in the drawing designates a trame or structural member of a flying machine, balloon or the like, and E-designates means of connection between the container A and such structure D. Specifically this may be a rope or strap 8, and in ,F ig. 7 such means of connection E and means D are illustrated as comprising an auxiliary parachute device 9 which, when cast into space with the packed parachute and the user, extends operatively andacts as a support, analogous to the members D and 3, so that the sequence of operations to free the parachute de *ice within the container A may be performed.

l will now describe one specific forni ofv construction, t'ormation, inter-relation and combination of parts and features embodying my invention, and state the operation of the same. lt is, however, to be understood that l do not thereby desire to limit the invention, directly or impliedly, in its construction, to any such specific embodiment.

The means ot connection C are shown as comprising a vest 10 which is applied to the 'body of the user, and may have suitable Sib straps, bands, cords or the like il to be passed about and over or under the body or body and limbs ot the user, so as to constitute an effective and comfortable and positive means of suspension connecting the user with the parachute device in use. lThis vest or the like 10 may have a rearward pocket 12 accommodating and normally supporting the container A and the parachute Vdevice B therein, when such parts are worn as a pack. The container A comprises a preferably textile body 13 or' vthe proper depth and other dimensions to receive and hold the parachute device, being in eti'ect a bag or envelop and being closed upon all sides and ends with the exception of that through which the parachute device is introduced or withdrawn, 'at which side, which will constitute the front when the'device is worn as a pack upon the back of the user, are provided two flaps 13 and 13b which are brought nearly together' and so held, when the parachute device is Within the container, by a rangible fastening, a cord or the like, lll. ln the middle portion of the container are provided two further flaps, 13C and 13d,

incassi preferably spanningr the interior of the container at right angles to the flaps 13a and 13b, springing from the. other twosidcs of the container walls 13, but lying substantially parallel with such other flaps. rlfhese flaps 13c and 13d are brought nearly together and normally so held by a trangible connection such asa cord or the like 15. Together, these two sets of flaps hold the parachute device within the container, such action/being supplemented by a further similar `fran'fible device or cord 16 by which the apexot the parachute body is attached to the container wall 13, directly beneath the means of connection E, or at a point most remote from the flaps 13 and 13b. ln introducing the parachute device within the container, the parachute body or envelop 17 is lirst placed within the container, in folded condition, or in superposed folds. The flaps 13C and 13d, and the flaps 13a and 13'D are separated, respectively, and held at the sides of the contalner during the operation of packing the parachute device within the latter. lVhen the suitably arranged folds of the parachute body 17 are properly disposed Within the container, the load suspending cords 18 are lead to the center of the container and down or out through the space which is provided upon bringing the flaps 13c and 13d together and connecting them by the cord 15. The said cords 18 ar-e then carefully disposed within the container over the ilaps 13c and 13d, in superposed coils, and the several coils or turns of the grouped cords are separated from each other to a greater or less degree by suitable loose separators 19, such as newspaper sheets or a plurality ot the same, sheets of card-board, or other material light in weight. l/Vhen the grouped cords 18 have thus been coiled and spaced as to the several coils within the container, the weight or load supporting ring 2O of the parachute device is disposed within the contain-er and upon or beneath or against the coiled grouped cords 18, and a flexible connector or member c of the means of connection C is in part disposed within or beneath the tlaps 13a and 13b which are now brought together over the housed parachute device, such -leXible member C, consisting of a pair of straps or the like, being extended through the narrow space between adjacent edges of the llaps 13a and 13b which are held in such relation by the trangible cord 1i; and such straps or the like r* are connected each at one end with the ring 20 and at the other'end with the vest or the like 10 ot the means of connection or suspension C. The said vest 10 may then be :brought up against the container A with its inclosed parachute device, where it is held detachably by flaps 2l which are connected with the vest by snap fasteners 22 or the like which permit the release of the vest f 10 from the container when a certain degree of quick pull or jerk is imparted to the vest, as in the drop of the wearer of the same. r1`he frangible cords 111, 15 and 16 and the snap fasteners 22, which latter may of course be supplanted by similar frangibleA cords, all constitute means yieldingly performing their several holding functions, which functions are interrupted when suflicient strain is brhght to bear upon such partss,

In using the packed parachute embodying the invention, when the device is Worn as a pack by means of the vest or the like 10, the wearer upon leaping or being cast into space executes a slight drop with the packed parachute, until the strap or rope 8 is tautened, or lthe container 18 may be directly and immediatelv connected with the structural member D or the like, and the detachable or yielding connections at 22 between the vest and container may be dispensed with, permitting the user to move about upon the flying machine or the like, within the limits permitted by the length of the straps c. When the yielding or temporary connections 22 are employed, as soon as the weight of the wearer is imposed upon the device, the rope 8 is tautened the snap fasteners or the like 22 will yield, permitting the vest and the wearer to drop from the supported container and parachute device therein until the parts assume the positions shown in Fig. 3. Where no fastening is provided, as at 22, between the vest and the container, the rst stage of drop or descent will be the second stage just described, namely that which results in an extension of the straps c, omitting the first stage, which,

as described, involving the tautening of the rope 8. When the straps c are tautened by the pull of the weight of the, user, the cord 14 will break, the flaps 13a and 13b will fall or open, the supporting ring 20 will drop, and thegrouped cords 18 will commence to uncoil, without fouling, due to the interposition of the spacers 19 between the several coils, which spacers are scattered in open space. This action takes place during the third stage of drop .illustrated in Fig. 4. The tautened cords 18 now strain upon the holding cord 15 uniting the {iaps 133 and 13d, breaking such cord, and the fourth stage of drop commences, which is accompanied by an unfolding of the folds of the parachute body or envelop 17, the iaps 13 and 18d having opened and fallen. These folds open out'or straighten out without fouling, such stage of drop being illustrated in Fig. 5. When this stage of drop has been completed, strain is brought to' bear upon the frangible cord 16 which breaks, and the entire parachute device comprising the ring 20, cords 1S and body or envelop 17, with the spacers 19, are now entirely freed from, and the last part thereof, namelythe apex of the parachute body, descends from the supported container 143, as shown in Fig. 6. ln the sixth stage of drop, which is not illustrated, A

the parachute body opens out into operative Mm, in the usual manner, and the parac'hute and wearer descend gradually and safely.

In the modified form of construction, illustrated in Fig. 7, the parachute body or device 9 simply takes the place, as stated, of the supporting structure D and rope 8, 'suspending the container A during the several successive stages of drop or descent above enumerated and explained, and during which the same operations of releasing the parachute device B for use are performed.

It will be noted that the operation of the device is entirely automatic, and by well defined sequences of operation and release the several parts and features are prevented from fouling or becoming entangled, the producing of which result is assisted by the spacers 19 and lby the yieldingly connected flaps of the pairs 13EL and 13b and 13 and 13d. The aeronaut or other user may safely cast himself or be cast into space, either for spectacular' purposes or as a life-saving act, such as for instance upon lost control of a flying machine, or breakage thereof or explosion of the prime mover thereof.

The packed parachute is relatively small in compass and light in weight, and when worn upon the person does not interfere with comfort or free and easy movement of the limbs and muscles; and, as stated, it may be remotely attached to the flying machine or other structure, and connected with the user by the straps c and the vest or the like 10. thus ridding the user of the impost of the parachute device and container. The vest 10` may of course, constitute an article of regular rwearing apparel of the aviator or other user.

Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A packed parachute comprising a container, aparachute body folded within the container and yieldingly connected therewith, means for yieldingly holding the folded parachute body within the container, load supporting cords connected with the parachute body and coiled 4within the container, means for yieldingly holding said cords so coiled within the container, and means for connecting said load-supporting coils to a load.

2. A packed parachute, comprising a container, a parachute body folded within the container and yieldingly connected therewith, means for yieldingly holding the folded parachute body within the container, load-supporting cords connected with the parachute body and coiled within the container, means for yieldingly holding said cords so coiled within the container, and` mwnsafor connecting said load-supporting container and yieldingly connected there' with, means for yieldingly holding the folded parachute body within the container,l

. 'load-supporting cords connected with the parachute body and coiled within the container, means for yieldingly holding said cords so coiled within the container, and means for connecting said load-supporting cords to a load; there being spacer devices interposed between the said coils of the load-supporting cords; and means being provided for supporting the container.

4. A packed parachute, comprising a con* tainer, a parachute body folded within the container and yieldingly connected thereto,

means for yieldingltiv holding the folded parachute body Within the container, loadsupporting cords connected with the parachute body and coiled within the container,

means for yieldingly holding said cords so coiled within the container, a flexible connection for said container, and means for niemeer connecting said load-supporting cords to a load; there being spacer devices interposed between said coils of the load-supporting s coiled within the container, a flexible connection for said container, and means for connecting said load-supporting cords to a load; there being spacer devices interposed between said coils of the load-supporting cords; said container being suspended from a dying machine or the like by said flexible connection.

ln testimony whereof, l have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GLENN L. MARTN. Witnesses ALFRED DAEHLE,

W. F. Coon. 

